Written By Brian Lockhart

The Creemore Padres claimed the North Dufferin Baseball League 2024's Junior Championship on Aug. 9 over the Innisfil Cardinals. 

The Senior division final continues with the Bolton Brewers taking an early lead over the Ivy Rangers.

Junior Championship

The Creemore Padres are the North Dufferin Baseball League Junior champions after a three-game sweep in the final series over the Innisfil Cardinals.

The Padres last won the title in 2022 and were finalists in last year's championship series.

Creemore had an outstanding season finishing first in the regular season with a 14-3-1 record. As the first-place team, they had a bye in the first round of playoffs.

In round two of the playoffs, they eliminated the Orangeville Bengals in two games, wrapping up that series on July 28, and earning the right to advance to the championship.

Innisfil came to the final series as the fourth-place team in the League.

The Cardinals eliminated the second-place Orillia Royals in a series that went four games. They played to a tie in the first game on July 25.

Innisfil lost in the second game, 6-5, but rebounded and won the two following games to take the series and advance to the final.

The Junior division championship series got underway on Aug. 5, in Creemore. The Padres came out on top in Game 1, with a 12-9 win to start an early lead in the series.

Creemore led the series 2-0 after a 12-0 win in Game 2 on Aug. 14.

The final game played in Creemore on Monday, Aug. 19, was a closer contest between the two rivals.

Innisfil started the game with a lead-off second-pitch home run from Aidan Farrow.

The momentum changed to the Padres in their half of the inning when Liam Reynolds hit a home run followed by Zack Hayward and Anson Dupuis crossing the plate to take a 3-1 lead.

In the fourth inning, the Cardinals scored Michael Dawe and Caden Firlotte to tie the game.

Creemore answered with a lone run by Kole Walker in the bottom of the inning to retake the lead.

For good measure, the Padres added two more runs in the fifth frame when Reynolds and Gavin Mikaczo scored and held the Cardinals off in the remaining two innings.

Innisfil was out-hit in the game with only Farrow's home run and single and a single from Luca Primomo.

The final was a 6-4 win for the Padres to claim the 2024 Junior championship.

Senior Championship

The NDBL Senior playoffs have entered the second round of competition.

This is a best-of-five, or first to six points, series.

The first-place Bolton Brewers are leading the fifth-place Ivy Rangers in their series that got underway on Sunday, Aug. 18, in Bolton.

The Brewers came out on top, 2-1 in the first game.

In the other series, the second-place Owen Sound Baysox are up against the third-place New Lowell Knights.

Game one of that series took place on Monday, Aug. 19, in Owen Sound.

The Baysox lead the series after leaving the diamond with a 7-2 win in the first game.

Winners of these two series will go on to compete in the championship series for the 2024 Strother Cup.